Committee tables East Wausau Avenue design after Bike/Ped committee urges multiuse trail and lower speeds; approves partial decorative lighting

The committee delayed a final recommendation on the reconstruction design for South 50 Second (East Wausau Avenue) between Sixth Street and Eighteenth Street after the Bicycle & Pedestrian (BikePed) advisory committee urged stronger pedestrian and bicycle accommodations than the current staff recommendation.

BikePed staff reported the advisory body recommended a 25 mph speed limit for Sixth to Eighteenth Street, 8–10-foot multiuse trail on one or both sides of the roadway in place of painted on-street bike lanes, 3–5-foot terraces with street trees, and pedestrian refuge islands at several intersections to improve safety. Staff noted BikePed’s recommendation emphasized minimizing new property acquisition where possible.

Several nearby residents addressed the committee during public comment. Gordon Clements (1307 East Wausau Avenue) told the committee he worried a center two-way left-turn lane (the “twiddle”) could raise speeds and increase crash severity; he said residents he observed use the sidewalk for bicycles and that a multiuse path would better serve safety and usage. Richard Gerblick (1306 East Wausau Avenue) asked the committee to avoid placing a path where it would remove substantial portions of private front yards and said most students walk via Thirteenth Street rather than Wausau Avenue.

Committee members discussed evidence presented by DOT consultants at a prior public informational meeting. City staff said the twiddle/two-way left-turn center lane was suggested by the DOT to address a history of rear-end crashes concentrated between Sixth and Thirteenth Streets. City staff also said a multiuse trail had not been one of the DOT’s original options and would require additional work to demonstrate “purpose and need” for federal funding and could complicate property acquisition, because state statutes limit condemnation for multiuse trails. The committee chair confirmed overhead aerial meeting boards with parcel impacts had been displayed at the earlier public informational meeting and said those exhibits could be provided again.

After discussion, a committee member moved to table the item until the August Infrastructure & Facilities meeting and requested additional options including: DOT consultants present the public-information meeting layouts, drawings that show BikePed’s multiuse-trail option on an aerial view, and a DOT representative if possible. The motion to table passed without opposition.

Separately, on the related agenda item about street lighting, the committee approved standard overhead cobra-head lighting as a baseline but amended the lighting plan to install decorative lighting from Sixth Street to Tenth Street; staff was directed to apply for Community Sensitive Design (CSD) funding to offset decorative-lighting costs. The committee recorded the lighting vote as 3–1 in favor of the amended lighting approach; staff estimated the city’s share for standard lighting at approximately $357,500 and said decorative fixtures could roughly double that cost absent additional grant funding.

The sidewalk-specific agenda item for the North Side sidewalk between Thirteenth and Eighteenth Street was officially tabled to the August meeting as well. City staff said construction is scheduled for 02/19/29 and that right-of-way/real-estate work could take roughly two years, so schedule changes may affect the overall reconstruction timetable.

The committee asked staff to pursue the requested DOT drawings and to return with overhead/aerial exhibits and cost estimates at the August meeting.